Emetophobia - fear of being sick

[cantmakepastry]

My DD aged 9 has recently undergone a lot of change and upset which has resulted in a change of school and having to start from scratch making friends through no fault of her own. This has come after an unconnected episode in April in a restaurant that resulted in her being sick in the toilet after eating a meal. It would seem that this put together with seeing a child at school be sick in the classroom has contributed to her being afraid of being sick.

She is now eating much less food and drink and is losing weight. I have had her checked out by a GP who has checked her tummy and suggested a food diary. She has explained to DD how the tummy works and in particular why she feels DD is getting stomach 'pain' after eating food ie stomach naturally contracting to chew the food up.

I believe this is all connected to anxiety that has happened in the last few months and put together with the sickness incidents has manifested in this way.
How can I help her? The 'pain' she feels in her tummy after eating is crucial because its at this point she stops eating and drinking thinking its the pre-cursor to being sick. She is not eating enough fullstop. She eats a varied diet but I simply cant get enough volume into her to bulk up the calorie intake.

We are awaiting a referral to a private counsellor (have been told CAHMS would be a long and probably un-fruitful wait) and due back to the GP next week. Is there anything I can do to help? Any experience or advice would be so very welcome. Thank you.

I am at CAMHS not prioritising this!

You clearly nee professional help soon if she is losing weight. How well qualified is this counsellor? You need to make sure he or she really knows what they are doing before letting them see your DD.

In the meantime could you try her on some high calorie shakes of some sort?

My GP was concerned that the waiting list for CAHMS would be a long one and due to the workload they have she wont get the priority she needs. It doesn't mean she won't be referred just that I am trying to get in there myself and help asap. She is losing weight but not at a drastic rate, enough to have me concerned obviously.

High calorie shakes is a good idea and have just been googling some recipes that I think look good so will give that a try. Anything to bulk up her calorie intake easily would be great. Have had a child counsellor recommended to me by a close friend who is also a child counsellor but yes of course will be doing my homework to make sure they are right for her. I am wondering if CBT is the way to go though as opposed to counselling...as I say, am keen to hear of others who have been in this situation. Have read its a common problem

How terrible, I agree that finding ways to bulk up her calorie intake is crucial. At the moment don't worry about giving her chocolate (dark choc if she'll eat it as it has iron in it) etc, just make sure she finds something she enjoys eating.

I have had emetophobia since infant school (although I had no idea what it was) and it is a terrifying thing. I wish I had been able to talk to my parents about it but I felt silly so it is great that you are taking her seriously.

I don't know of any cures unfortunately but for me it is very much related to how anxiety provoking my surrounding circumstances are so you may find that when she makes friends and settles into her new school the emetophobia will take a back seat.

I have my fingers crossed that you get help quickly, you sound like you are doing everything you can. There is a support forum for sufferers of this phobia and I know they wouldn't mind helping if they can.

You can find it here. There is also a book I recommend for more insight here.

Hello, I suffer from this phobia. What I'd concentrate on is normalising her fear but not dismissing it. Say that no one likes being sick, but it is very unlikely to happen very often at all. Also help her to feel in control, the tummy ache is probably likely to be anxiety rather than digestion pain. Had she over-eaten at the restaurant? If so maybe allowing her to eat smaller, more frequent meals may help.

I wish someone had tried to understand my fear when it first developed instead of ridiculing it. If the counsellor can't help, please keep trying until you find someone who can. It's a horrible phobia and has limited my choices a great deal.

Thank you all so much for your comments, really appreciated. No she hadn't really over eaten, she rarely ever does. She has never had the best of appetites as it is. She ate 2 slices of a kids size pizza, felt a tummy ache come on, ignored it and ate ice cream anyway. Then she was sick. So now she is associating a tummy ache as a cue to stop eating even if its just after eating a small handful of grapes. I just cant get any decent volume of food in her. We are doing exactly what you say ie much smaller meals more often, so breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, tea, bedtime drink/snack but at each time she's saying she's still full from the previous meal. Gosh its so hard. She has a list of worries as long as her arm. Silly to us but obviously very real to her. I am taking alot of time to make sure she tells me all of them no matter how small or silly they sound and then acknowledge her fears and work out the realistic answers. She says that's helping. I feel the way to go is get her a very good counsellor to get these anxieties and worries out and then I feel the emetophobia may back off. I hope! Thanks again, will come back and let you know how things are going.